Key case



G. E. PRENTICE KEY CASE Filed Aug. 22, 1925 Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFF cs. A

GEORGE EDWARD PRENTICE, OF BERLIN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO G. E.PRENTICE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 01 NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, ACORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

KEY CASE.

Application" filed August 22, 1925. Serial No. 51,837.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. Pnnn'rron,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Berlin, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new andusefulImprovements in Key Cases, of which, the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in key cases of the form in which aset of hanger supports and hook-like clips for receivmg keys areincorporated in a case of leather or the like and the object of myimrovement is to provide intermediate the eather case and a set of haner supports like those shown and described in the application filed byRobert O. Legat March 23, 1925, Serial No. 17,691, a supportingstructurethat is secured to the leather case and has individual loops forengaging with the 20 openings in the hanger supports whereby asubstantially swivel connection is provided and thus a second flexibleconnection, in addition to the ball and socket joint of the hangersupport, will be incorporated betiveen the leather case and thekey-receiving c1p. I

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation of part of akey case in the open position showing a supporting structure embodyingmy invention and a set of hanger supports and hangers or key receivingclips that correspond to one form that is shown and described in theapplication above referred to.

Figure 2 is an edge view of the support ing structure and the partssupported thereby.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the blank for the supporting structure.

Figure 4: is a plan view of the blank for the hanger support.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken through the ball and socket joint.

My improved key case comprises a casing proper of leather that isadapted to be folded over-to enclose the key supporting devices and thekeys in the usual manner, the keys being engaged individually withhook-like clips or hangers 11.

The hangers 11 are connected to hen er supports 12 by means of a balland sec et joint 13, all of which are shown and described in theapplication above referred to. Thus, briefly, the hanger 11 has a shank14 and the upper end portion-J5 of said shank 14 is curled over intosomewhat of a ball shape. The shank 14 is entered through an openin inthe lower end of the ball portion 17 oft e hanger support 12.

The hanger support 12 is made of sheet metal and the ball portion 17 isformed from the plate-like middle ortion of the blank that issubstantially 0 square shape and is defined by the side edges 18. Shortandreduced connecting necks 19 extend outwardly on opposite sides fromthe ends of a diagonal are brought into face to face contact or intoclose relation so as to cooperate to provide a supporting shank or thelike for the ball 17. The necks 19 merge with enlarged ears 20 that haveopenings 21 in registration for receiving means that are provided forholding the hanger supports 12.

In the present instance said means comprise for each hanger support 12 aloop 22 that is ositioned in a'plane that is in perpendicu ar relationto the opposed face of the back 23 of the leather casin 10. Thus, withthe hanger supports 12 ant? the keys in the pendant position and housedwithin the casin 10 the sup orting ears 20 are substantially in paraelism with the back 23 and the movements permitted the hanger supportsare the substantial equivalent to suchas are provided by a swivelconnection.

Such movement consist of a combination of a swinging in a perpendicularplane along the structureof the loop 22, which in extent is considerablymore than one hundred and eighty degrees, and a lateral ivotal movementof substantially one hun red and ei hty do ees.

As s own, t e loops 22 are in the form of individual fingers, eight innumber, that are connected along the top edge 24 of a plate or body 25,the latter being secured to the casing back 23 by a set of eyelet rivets26.

The ball and socket joint facilitates the turning of the individual keyswhen engaged with the lock and also the nesting of the keys snuglywithin the ca 10.

The swivel oint 27, provided y the ears 20 and the loops 22, providesfor flexibility and facilitates the selection of a particular ke foruse.

it will-be understood that no claim is made in this application to thestructure of the hanger support and hanger per se, the same bein claimedin the copending application of O. Legat, Serial No. 17 ,694. Thepresent case is directed to the combination of the structure claimed insaid copending application with an improved supporting p ate forattaching the device to a key case. It will be observed that there is aclear coaction, and, therefore, a true combination between thesestructures, since the curled fingers of the supporting plate permit of auniversal movement at the supporting plate and the plate element affordsa v backing for the swivel joint when the keys are positioned within thecase.

I claim as my invention a In combination, a supporting plate forattachment to a key case, having at one edge a plurality of spacedfingers bent back into contact with the plate and forming loops, aplurality of hanger supports each attached to one of said fingers forfree swinging movement thereon, and each having a pendant portion in theform of a substantially hollow structure that is provided with anopening at the lower end, a hanger for receiving a key having a shank ofwire that is projected through said opening so that the free end portionis housed within said structure, and said free'end portion bein curledupon itself in the plane of the shan without diminishing the crosssectional area thereof to provide an operative fit within said structurefor cooperating therewith as a swivel connection.

GEORGE EDWARD PRENTICE.

